Devon Anderson, widow of prosecutor Mike Anderson, says she will fulfill one of her husband's campaign promises.

Devon Anderson, widow of prosecutor Mike Anderson, says she will fulfill one of her husband's campaign promises.

Photo: Melissa Phillip, Staff

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Mike and Devon Anderson in 2012.

Mike and Devon Anderson in 2012.

Photo: James Nielsen, Staff

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Anderson widow plans to be DA for 'years to come'

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Devon Anderson, who lost her husband, Harris County District Attorney Mike Anderson, to cancer less than a month ago, said Thursday that she plans to helm the office for years to come, and she plans to do it with the top lieutenant her husband picked.

Anderson gave a brief statement a day after being appointed by Gov. Rick Perry to fill her husband's unexpired term as Houston's top prosecutor.

"For the last 26 days, since Mike died, she has been the steady hand who has kept this office on an even keel," Devon Anderson said of First Assistant DA Belinda Hill, who ran the office after Anderson died Aug. 31. "I really look forward to working with her for years to come."

Hill did not speak at the news conference, and Anderson did not take questions.

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Mike Anderson was elected in November and asked Hill in January to step down from the bench she held for 16 years to be "second in command." After he died, she became the acting district attorney until the governor appointed Devon Anderson to serve the remainder of her late husband's term.

In addition to keeping the experienced first assistant on the job, Anderson said she plans to continue the policies and procedures her husband initiated when he took office. Those include supporting the county's drug courts, one of which she presided over when she was a judge.

"I'm a firm believer in rehabilitation for drug addicts and believe it is an essential part of the war on drugs," she said.

'Leading from the front'

She also said she will fulfill one of her husband's campaign promises to personally try anyone accused of the capital murder of any law enforcement officer in Harris County.

That pledge came into sharp relief on Christmas Eve when a daytime traffic stop ended with the fatal shooting of Bellaire police officer Jimmie Norman and business owner Terry Taylor.

In April, Mike Anderson announced the office would seek the death penalty for 21-year-old Harlem Lewis and urged a quick trial setting. The case is expected to go to trial in November.

"I intend to personally prosecute that case," Devon Anderson said Thursday. "I will prosecute all capital murders of police officers that occur in Harris County. As your district attorney, I will be leading from the front."

Anderson spent 12 years as an assistant Harris County district attorney and was elected to the bench in 2004. She worked as a criminal defense lawyer in private practice after losing her re-election bid in the Democratic sweep of 2008.

Anderson said these experiences made her a "triple threat."

Faces voters in 2014

"Looking back on my career," she said, "I am most comfortable, most passionate, being an advocate - an advocate for justice and an advocate for victims."

To stay in office, Anderson will have to run for re-election in 2014. The post will be on the ballot again in 2016.

The head of Houston's association of defense lawyers said Anderson is capable of fulfilling her husband's vision and applauded the decision to keep Hill as first assistant.

"I'm elated to see not only that she chose Belinda Hill, but that Belinda Hill agreed to accept that position," said Todd Dupont, president of the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association. "Harris County's criminal justice community will be better because of that one choice alone."

He also said he was optimistic of Anderson's support for alternative courts.

"I'm encouraged to hear that she will continue with drug courts," Dupont said. "And I would hope that continues with mental health court and veterans' court. And, perhaps, she will consider other specialty courts that may be needed in the future."